"Amen" reviewed by: Michael Snyder of Sonicnet.com
The pressure to follow up a success as massive as Paula Cole's double platinum recording,
This Fire, may have gotten to the singer/songwriter and keyboardist.

Coming in the wake of This Fire, her third album, Amen, has none of the fresh idiosyncratic flair of
the previous collection's hit single "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" Nor does it have a song as
appealing and immediate as "I Don't Want to Wait," the bittersweet piano ballad that became
identified as a theme for the teen-skewed WB television drama, "Dawson's Creek."

You can blame Cole for any shortcomings on Amen, despite its being released as a band effort with
drummer Jay Bellerose and guitarist Kevin Barry. It was written in its entirety by Cole, who also is
listed as the record's producer.

Not to suggest that there wasn't a conscious attempt to make a commercially viable project here. It leads off with the single,
"I Believe in Love." It's a string-drenched throwback to Gamble & Huff's Philly-soul sound with just a touch of lush, Jimmy
("Wichita Lineman") Webb–style orchestration. Lyrically, it's about as deep as a Mac Davis tune or any number of those
assembly-line R&B ballads that Babyface or R. Kelly crank out.

Then, you get the title tune. At first, the melody and arrangement are engaging. Cole's greatest asset
— her dusky voice with its poignant edge — glides over gleaming electric and acoustic guitars and a perky drumbeat. And
then the lyrics turn pretentious, as Cole gets into a nonsensical (zen?) listing of everything from Saddam Hussein and
Republican witch-hunts to Betty Page and the right to die — all given the singer's benediction.

But Alanis Morissette already did something like this on her song, "Thank U." Maybe they swapped notes at Lilith Fair.

On "La Tonya," Cole means to depict a tragic inner-city circumstance in the first person. It may be sweetly sung but it still
seems bogus. She's much more in her element on the empowering relationship number, "Pearl" until you hear her sing,
"Gotta face my Steppenwolf — gotta drag it through the mud." Yeesh! Nice guitar from Barry, though.

She's got a hell of a voice, but when you hear it in the service of such banal lyrics, it seems like a real waste.

"Free" attempts to tap into the bittersweet vibe of "I Don't Want to Wait." The reed sound that ignites "Suwannee Jo" is
intriguing, until Cole makes her entrance and contrives more dark, urban tale-spinning.

The most unintentionally hilarious moment on the album has to be "Rhythm of Life", a slow-grooving
number that begins with a bit of scratching from DJ Premier of the rap group Gang Starr. The fun really starts when Cole
does her white-girl rap about "the critics and the cynics that don't understand the lyrics" and then sings that she "began as Isis
the high priestess."

All hail mighty Paula!

Paula Cole March 2nd, 2000 Asheville, NC Be Here Now

First off, you'll have to forgive me. It's been a few weeks since I went to the show, so the details are pretty sketchy.

Be Here Now is a tiny venue in the town of Asheville, NC. I had never really been to Asheville before other than passing through the outskirts to visit the Biltmore House (if you've seen the movie Richie Rich, that's the house) when I was younger. Anyway, Asheville is a really great town, sort of a miniature Boston surrounded by mountains. My mom and I had no idea where the venue was other than the street names, so we were very lucky to enter the downtown area and spot the tour buses after a few minutes. We ended up parking a street over at a church, and made our way up to the entrance.

By this time there was already a pretty long line, so I was a little disappointed, thinking since it was general admission we wouldn't get a good spot. Finally, once we got inside and I had checked in with the people there (I was the contest winner for that show), we made our way to the stage. Most of the people that were already inside had taken a spot at bar stools on the other side of the room, and the others were sitting around on the floor, pretty far back from the stage. The very front was open, so I sat down front and center as my mom stopped to get a Coke.

The audience was very relaxed... usually I dread general admission shows because people are so pushy and there's always some kind of argument between drunk people. We all sat indian-style for Peter Stuart's performance, which was absolutely fantastic. He seemed to dig that we were all relaxed and intent on listening, with the exception of the usual drunk crowd in the back. Before his last song he made an amusing remark towards all the people talking in the back (which for the life of me I can't remember, but it was hilarious) and thanked all of us in the front for being cool and giving him a chance.

Peter left the stage, and we waited a while, and when the announcer finally came out we all stood up. I had a great spot leaning against the trunks that they were using as a barricade, a little to the right of where Paula would stand. If I leaned over the amp a bit I could see the set list.

The venue had strange lighting, very well lit, so as Paula and the band made their entrance, they could see us all. She smiled and thanked us graciously as we all went crazy cheering for her, then introduced Jolene by talking about Dolly Parton. I think this song makes an amazing opening number.

Paula and the band ripped through an amazing set: Jolene Amen Throwing Stones Pearl Mississippi Believe Tiger Cowboys Me Feelin' Love Hitler's Brothers I Don't Want To Wait

I can't remember which it was, but there was a song she played piano on sort of early in the show... either Throwing Stones or Mississippi. But after this song, I was cheering and clapping like anyone else, and for some reason she looked at me and as she was coming back to the center of the stage, she walked over to me and reached for my hand and smiled at me. I don't know why she did that, but she didn't reach for hands again until the end of the show, when she went along the front and shook everyone's hand, including mine again. That just made the night for me.

Unfortunately I can't remember many details about the set other than that, but the only thing I was disappointed about was that Suwanee Joe wasn't included. I remember the second time I saw Paula, that was the opening song, and she played the clarinet. Her vocals on that song just blew me away, and I was hoping to see her perform it again.

Other than that, everything was great, it was an absolutely amazing performance. Her voice was flawless, and the band was so talented, and they were all so into it! It always bothers me when I go to a show and someone in the band just stands there looking bored. I was thoroughly impressed by them all, and especially Miss Paula. ;) This was my 4th time seeing her perform, and I swear each time only underscores my initial conclusion that she is a shockingly underrated performer.

Lane

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